End of timeby RotorixChaptersEndGreetingsTo BattleR&RTransitionEndEnd of Time ________________________________________________________________________________ Jason knew was going to die long before it happened. He expected it, and he dreaded every minute that passed that he was out in the open, running through the large streets. The rest of his team had been killed, torn to pieces by the unicorns, or impaled by the swords and spears of the rest. It seemed like magic that the ponies had defeated them. And that was the reason they had lost: magic. Magic. That one ability had destroyed most of the armies of Humanity. When they had first met the ponies, Humans could not fathom what the horns were for, and suffered the consequence when the war started. Magic had been used to destroy tanks, planes, entire armies had been decimated when their guns had stopped functioning, or just blew up in their hands. Whatever those damn unicorns wished, happened. Not that there hadn't been any victories. In the last few battles, people had adapted and began using tactics that caught the ponies by surprise, or utterly destroyed them through sheer number and technology. Unfortunately, the ponies kept adapting to whatever strategy they threw at them. Though, that had all come to nothing. Now, the ponies had defeated most of the other countries on Earth, though Jason hadn't heard any updates on who was left for some time now. He did know that this was likely America's last stand, here in New York. He remembered with slight pity at how, just about a decade ago, humans had been fighting about a horrible war in what used to the Middle East. Divided they had been then, and now, at their species darkest hour, divided they died. He supposed that was one of the reasons the ponies had won: they stood together, all of their kind, even with their obvious differences. He was about to turn down a small alleyway, but stopped dead in his tracks. Walking through it was a group of about three ponies; one unicorn, the other two were pegasi. He immediately dropped down on the ground before the caught sight of him. Holding his breath and being as still as he could, he heard the sound of hoofstepes as the enemy soldiers approached him. "Check this out," a distinctively male voice said. "Poor guy. We'll have to see if he's dead, don't want that trick pulled on me twice." So, you've heard this one before? Jason thought to himself as the three stopped next to him. There were a few moments of silence, and then he felt a hoof hit him square in the back, bruising him at best. It took all of his self control not to move, but it hurt. A lot. He felt tears come to his eyes, but with his face down they wouldn't see anything. Then another voice broke the silence. "You didn't have to do that, Storm," this voice sounded feminine. Jason's past experience with ponies showed that females were just as dangerous as the males. Even more so, as they could be pleading for mercy one moment, then the next, they would stick a knife in your throat. "I could have just checked with my magic." As she uttered this sentence, a faint hum and tinkling sound that Jason knew all too well - the sound of magic. He just had to wait for the right moment to strike, now. His hand had already been next to his holster for his pistol, he grabbed the handle of the gun, and waited. "Oh no. He's still alive!" Jason heard the unicorn say, he heard swords being drawn, and he flipped over, the gun aimed at the unicorn. "You bet, bitch," Jason said as he pulled the trigger. For the moment that he had seen her face, the pony had looked to be young, but any trances of youth on her face were blown away as the bullet hit her. He rolled away from the ponies and heard as the tips of swords scraped across the ground he had been on moments ago. Leaping up to his feet, he saw that the ponies had closed in on him quickly. He raised his gun, and precisely fired two shots at the closest pegasus. That left only one, which he quickly dispatched in the same way. Finding his magazine empty, he reached down and grabbed his last full magazine. Last mag... Better make it count. He knew where he had to go, he had been debriefed on where to head if things went south for him. After walking for ten more minutes without any encounter, he finally reached the safe zone. As he approached the small, ruined building that was currently the only safe haven left in this part of town, he gave the signal that meant it was safe. After a few moments of tense silence, he saw a hand give the okay signal. He sprinted to the entrance of the building and dove inside. "Jason, glad to see you," he heard a deep voice address him. Ty, a close friend of his, told him as he rose from the floor. "Ty, good to see you, too," Jason told him. "Jason, please tell me... Is everyone... " Ty's face changed to one of worry. "Yes, they're... dead. We ran into a group of ponies and they tore us apart. I got away... Everyone else didn't make it." "Shit," Ty said. Frankly, that was what Jason felt like right now. Ty suddenly lifted his head. "Shh... You hear that?" Jason focused his hearing. The sound that met his ears was like thunder. Thud. Thud. Thud It was only then that he realized what he was hearing were hoofs - and lots of them. Jason went over to the nearest window, and risked a glance outside. What he saw was disheartening, to say the least. Ponies - dozens of them, and in the front, a shining white pegasus - wait, no unicorn. The harder Jason looked, the more he realized that the pony was a mixture of both. Princess Celestia had come to finish it. Jason removed his head from the window and walked back to Ty. "Princess Celestia's here," he told his friend. She was know for destroying everything. When she showed up, that usually meant that whoever was fighting her was screwed. "... So she's finally showed up?" Ty said with a face that seemed that he had accepted his fate. Jason supposed he had, too. With everyone he loved or cared about, dead, he only had one wish: revenge. "We have C4 here?" Jason asked Ty. "We do, brother, not a lot, but we do," Ty responded, a wicked smile growing on his face. "You ready to show these ponies hell?" Ty asked. Jason nodded. They had been over the plan: they would wait for the small army of ponies to move directly under the building. Then, they would kill themselves with the C4, for they had both given up on life by now, might as well go out with a bang. The ponies were close now. In a few moments, it would be time to end it. Jason and Ty both pressed down on the trigger for the explosive and held it down. The ponies were finally right below them. The two friends looked at each other one last time, and they jumped through the window, fell one story, and into the center of the mass of ponies. Right before he hit the ground, Jason released the trigger. But in the brief second before that, he swore he could hear a soft... hum and a tinkling sound. GreetingsEnd of Time ________________________________________________________________________________ At first, all was dark. Then, with a bright flash of white light, Twenty four was in a shimmering tunnel of some sort. It certainly was not through any mountain or similar construct like back on Earth. This tunnel seemed to have walls made of space, literally, it seemed as if it was a roll of blue, starry sky. Twenty four was at the end of this tunnel, staring down at a strange, bright light at the end. So this is what they mean by “light at the end of the tunnel”, thought Twenty four. And with that, he took his first step forward. Twenty four had noticed that there was no floor, and cautiously took another small step forward. As soon as he did, an image began to show on the star-lined walls of the tunnel. Twenty four stopped and looked at the image on his left, like a movie projector. It showed a scene of what he supposed was himself in front of Princess Celestia. She seemed to be speaking to him, but no sound came from the image. In fact, no sound came from anywhere;it was utterly quiet. Twenty four moved farther down the tunnel. Another image appeared. This one showed him bowing to Princess Celestia, holding his gun up to her; surrendering. Like hell. What are these: visions of the future? Twenty four shrugged off the feeling that they were set in stone, and moved forward yet again. only a couple of steps away from the light. At this point, his head started to have a horrible pain blossom through it, joined by a low hum and tinkling sound: magic. As he was only one step away from reaching the end of the tunnel, the pain and volume of the hum increasing, one final image showed itself on the wall, possibly the most disturbing. It showed him aiming his rifle at Celestia: who was not appearing frightened in the slightest, the glow as he fired a bullet, and then the image shifted. His suit, torn into pieces, along with his body, with Celestia smiling almost insanely over his body, her horn still glowing. The image shifted one final time: Celestia stood on what seemed to be the remains of a city, thousands of human bodies, either in chains, or dead, standing before her and an army of armored ponies. The image melted away, and Twenty four turned to face the light, now right in front of him. Whatever happens, I won’t let it be that. And, with the pain and noise reaching a crescendo, he stepped through the wall of light. Pain was the first thing Twenty four felt. Along with the pain was an annoying ringing in his ears, and a sharp pain in his head. While annoying, the senses told him that he was alive. He had made it here, wherever here was. He opened his eyes to reveal a beautiful, if redish afternoon sky, most likely due to the suit’s vision tint. Wait, what suit? Where am I, he focused, and did not panic. The memories of his mission returned to him, and what was at stake. If I don’t kill Celestia, then all of humanity is doomed. He attempted to get to his feet, but a horrible wave of dizziness overcame him, and he was forced to wait for the effect to pass. When at last it did, he stood up again and surveyed his surroundings. He was standing on a hill. Before him were rolling plains, more hills, far to his left was a giant forest and farther off, what appeared to be a mountain with something white and gold on the side. But then he moved his gaze downward, and the he saw something that piqued his curiosity: a village or at least something that seemed like one, with smoke rising from some of the buildings, as if a fire had been put out. He began to move shakily forward towards the village, and partway down the hill, he fell and began to roll down the slope of the hill. He reached out and stopped himself with his metal-encased arm. He sat up, clenched his fist, and stood. I can’t be like that. I have to make it through this. He stood, and continued walking to the village. Twenty four was not sure what to think when he finally made it to the town. After numerous minutes of walking, he came to the small pony settlement. He passed the first row of small cottages that made up the outskirts of the town, and was instantly faced with what looked like a battle - or, at least, what was left of one. He was standing in a small alleyway between two houses, and before him was what he guessed the center of town, a large, open space with a tall building in the middle. Scattered around the field in front of Twenty four, were groups of ponies fighting with swords and magic. One apparent faction was made up of ponies in golden armor, while the other was suited in silver and dark blue armor. The two groups were swinging swords at each other, In the center of all the fighting, there were six ponies in no armor, but they all had pieces of jewelry; for five of them they wore necklaces, but a purple-colored one in the center had a tiara on. The six ponies floated into the air, and a large flash of white light blinded Twenty four. When the light died down, he opened his eyes to see that no more of the golden-armored ponies were left. They were all set in stone, frozen like statues. What the hell did they just do? Twenty four had never seen anything like that before, not even with the displays of magic in the war. He hadn't been seen yet, but it was inevitable, as he heard a yell. “What is that?” With that, Twenty four brought his rifle to his hands and stepped forward. He started walking towards the group of six ponies, but one of the soldiers ran at him, brandishing a sword. Twenty four waited until he was close, then spun his rifle in his hands and as the soldier swung his sword, Twenty four met it with his gun. Blocking two more swings, Twenty four saw an opening, and hit the pony in the head with the butt of the rifle. The pony fell back, dazed, and Twenty four walked past him, continuing his stride to the ponies. As he walked, he took a look at the creatures that had frozen dozens of armored soldiers. There were two unicorns, two pegasi, and two regular ponies. They just watched as he approached, and then the purple one with the tiara spoke. “What and who are you?” “I would like to know the same thing. Tell me where I am and who you are, and I’ll answer your questions,” Twenty four said back. The purple one seemed irritated, but she spoke a few seconds later. “I am Twilight Sparkle, once the student of Princess Celestia. Or Queen, I should say. This land is Equestria, and this village is Ponyville, and it was just freed of its oppression - just now, actually. Now I ask again: what are you?” “You can call me Twenty four. I am a human, and I am from another time, sent here to complete a mission.” Twenty four had already decided that these ponies could be the enemy, and he would have to kill them if the need arose; therefore, it was vital he gave away as little information he could.“What about this war with Celestia? Why is this happening? I thought ponies respected her.” From what Twenty four had seen in the war, it seemed they would follow her no matter what. Why would they be fighting her? Twilight Sparkle snorted. “Most used to but a few years back she claimed that she wished to conquer the Far Lands; places far away from here where it is said that very dangerous and powerful creatures live. Many ponies thought that Celestia was mad; nopony has ever dared to go there, for anypony who has left has never returned. I used to be her ‘most faithful student’ and we were her friends, once, but I read whatever I could about those lands, and we all tried to change her reasoning: that there was no need to risk so many lives on a hopeless quest. She insisted, and declared that anypony who went against her reasoning would be considered a traitor. I had no idea what had happened to her, it seemed as if something had twisted her into whatever she is now. She turned on us, for reasons that we still don’t know of, and tried to imprison us. Princess Luna, Celestia’s sister helped us, but she stayed behind to ensure our escape… We hope that she is still alive, but we have been fighting Celestia for months now, and many good ponies have been lost. I, along with the other Elements of Harmony, have been leading our soldiers in the battles that have happened all over Equestria, from city to city. We are close to the final battle, in Canterlot, where we will either dethrone Celestia or die trying.” “Well, I suppose I can assist you with that goal,” Twenty four said, he made a mental note to find out what these "Elements" were. Were they what had just frozen all of those soldiers? “Really?” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “How so… Is this the ‘mission’ you spoke of?” “Yes, it is. My mission… is to kill Princess Celestia.” Twilight’s eyes widened at that. “Yes. I was sent back in time to eliminate Celestia before… well, that’s not important. I have been outfitted with some of the most powerful technology my kind has ever made. If you wish for my help…” Twenty four paused, unsure. Could he give his help to these ponies? They had a common goal; that much was certain. But would they turn on me after that goal’s accomplished? Twenty four thought. In his line of business, it was best not to trust anyone. But he had seen how easily the dozens of soldiers had been turned to stone. If he made an enemy of this group, he could end up the same way. He made up his mind, and spoke. “...If you wish for my help if dethroning Celestia, I would be more than happy to pull the trigger myself.” Twilight seemed confused at his choice of words, but nodded her head, agreeing. She was about to respond when a voice cried out, “Commander Twilight, reinforcements have arrived!” Twilight looked back at the other ponies with her, nodded at them, and they returned the gesture. Picking up weapons from fallen soldiers, the five ran off in the direction that the voice had called, along with the few other soldiers nearby. Twilight herself picked up two swords from the ground with her magic, and turned to Twenty four. “Let’s see how that technology of yours holds up, Twenty four,” she said, then sprinted off in the same direction that her friends had. Twenty four lifted his rifle, checked the magazine; even though he knew he hadn't fired any shots, it was still an old habit. Checking his handgun, and as well, finding a knife on his suit, he ran down the same street that everyone else had. This might not have been the land of sunshine and butterflies that Twenty four had expected, but, what did it matter? He liked this a whole lot more. “ To BattleEnd of Time As Twenty four ran towards the battle, his mind ran through with its usual list of emotions before he killed; anticipation, anxiety, possibly a small amount of fear at fighting these strange ponies once again. While he wasn’t afraid of fighting to the death; he had been trained for years in the art of killing, and had become highly proficient in it, not that he enjoyed it - he was simply afraid. Fear: an annoying emotion that he had to deal with when facing an uncertain outcome. It was a basic one, one that he had become accustomed to, that he had learned to bend to work in his favor. And he was prepared to do just that as two gold-clad ponies charged him. As they ran, Twenty four noticed that their armor was different from the bodies of the soldiers he had seen in the previous battle. The plates of gold armor wrapped around the whole front of the ponies, from chin to chest, and covered their sides. On their faces were helmets with only two slits for eyes. He knew that ammunition was limited - he would have to use his guns sparingly - and now mentally chastised himself for not grabbing a sword when he had the chance. As his combatants ran at him, he surveyed the surroundings, seeing what he could use to his advantage. The reinforcements had been met in a large field on the outskirts of the town; there was very little to use, unless the small home on his left would force the ponies into close quarters. But then again, they wielded swords, and neither of them were unicorns. Instead, when the soldiers were a matter of yards away from him, he drew his knife. As he held the knife in his hand, he saw that from the tip to the grip, the knife lit up a dark blue and pulsed. Better not be just for show, Twenty four thought as the soldiers swung their swords at him. Dodging the swings, he swung at one with his knife, and caught one of their blades with his own. As they stood in deadlock, he saw the pulsing blue edge of his blade slide through his opponent's, the stump of his sword swinging downward, the other half of the blade following in the same direction. As the pony stared at him with fear in his eyes, his comrade attacked Twenty four - who raised his blade just in time to block the weapon, and cut though it just as easily. As the ponies turned to run away, he leaped at the closest one, bringing his blade up to the pony’s armored throat. As the blade burned through his armor, the pony squirmed and tried to kick at him, but to no avail, for the suit’s increased strength allowed him to keep hold of him. After seconds of sparks flying, the blade finally pierced the soldier’s neck, and after a few more seconds he was dead. They certainly weren't kidding when they said ‘high-tech’, Twenty four thought as he watched the remaining pony get defeated by two friendlies. As he rose, Twenty four saw a large group of five ponies moving towards him, facing him in a horizontal line. Two unicorns were mixed up in the group, the rest were normal earth ponies. They must be targeting me specifically, now. Great. As they swung their swords at him, he jumped back, and raised his own weapon to counter, but found himself unable to do so, as he felt magic imprison his arms. The ponies raised their swords, but Twenty four was not frightened in the least; he knew that the suit would protect him. His only problem was how to get released from the magic, for he knew his suit wouldn’t protect him forever, or if the unicorns focused their magic on him directly. A few moments later, he heard the clang of their swords as they impacted with his armor. Suit damage: 2% appeared on his visor screen, and he supposed it meant out of one-hundred. Well, that gives me some- He stopped as the unicorns holding him in place fell over, dead. Behind their bodies stood two ponies in blue and silver armor, the same kind as the rebels. Twenty four noticed that they were the same ponies that he had seen kill the enemy that had fled. The magic restringing him gone, he jumped at the nearest soldier near him, attacking and swiftly killing him. His allies were also currently engaged in their own battles with the two remaining soldiers. Moving to assist, he cut the blade of one of the soldiers while the friendly finished him off. Turning to help the remaining ally, they saw that he had already ended his own opponent. “I wish I had a knife like yours,” one of them, a brown-haired, creme-colored, youthful-looking unicorn said, nodding at Twenty four’s weapon. “You’d have to travel through time quite a bit to get it,” Twenty four joked. “Heh, you’re an odd creature, for sure. But just how far?” the unicorn asked, looking as if he might actually attempt it. “The time for questions comes later,” came the deep voice of the other pony. He certainly looked older than his companion, along with wings, a grey coat and dark blue mane, he couldn't have looked more different, even though they were wearing armor of the same make. As he spoke, he pointed at yet another group of six enemies, making their way toward them. “Great. More of them,” Twenty four said. Then, turning to the ponies: “You two got names?” “Of course we do,” the gray pony answered. “My name’s Frost. As for the young one, you can call him Star.” Twenty four nodded. “You can call me Twenty four,” the ponies grunted in response. Turning to face the enemies, he asked, “so, how do you want to approach this?” “Simple,” Frost answered. “There’s six of ‘em. One unicorn. Star, think you can deal with him?” “Sure can, but you guys will have to deal with the rest and keep them away from me.” “Easy enough,” Twenty four said. The soldiers were only a few yards away when they started running full gallop at them. “Let’s go,” he said and, along with his allies, charged the enemy soldiers. Twenty four was the first one to collide with the soldiers, followed closely by Frost. Stopping as two earth ponies swung at him, he dodged the swings and struck out with his knife, cutting through the enemy's weapon, and followed by cutting through the soldiers armor at the neck, killing him. Frost had handled his opponent differently; he didn’t have the luxury of being able to cut through his enemy's armor and weapons, so he engaged in what Twenty four recognized to be extremely skilled swordsmanship. If Twenty four did not have a knife that caused all armor and swords to be worthless, and weapons that could kill anything with ease, he would have done anything to learn from such an apparent master. Even though Twenty four could tell that the fight was no challenge for him, he came up behind the enemy and stabbed him through his armor, Frost swiftly ending him afterwards. Together, they turned to engage the remaining three soldiers, who, as if finally realizing that using their numbers against him would work, attacked all at once. While Frost kept most of the enemies occupied, Twenty four - with the suit’s increased abilities - moved quickly and precisely, either disabling enemies for Frost to finish, or outright killing them when he saw the opportunity. And throughout all of the fighting, far to his left, he saw Star and an enemy unicorn engaged in what he supposed was a battle of magic. It was one of the most beautiful and strangest things Twenty four had ever seen. Their horns aglow, attacking with beams of energy and blocking with domes of magic; each trying to get the upper hand, as each tried to kill the other. Star’s face was contorted in one of concentration, with the same said for his opponent. It seemed they were at the same skill level, but Twenty four still sped up his fighting to assist his ally. After a few moments, he and Frost had killed all the enemies. When Twenty four looked, he did not like what he saw. Star looked to be losing - and that there wasn’t much time for him left, ethier. Twenty four knew that even if he ran at full speed he wouldn’t be able to save him. Frost nevertheless jumped into the air and flew as fast as he could to reach Star in time. Drawing his knife, he started sprinting after Frost, eventually catching up to him, and passing him soon after. Twenty four saw what he had to do. With him close behind Star and the enemy in front of him, he threw his knife. Though he knew he was a good shot, he was also excellent at throwing knifes - an old game he used to play whenever he got bored. Both Frost and Twenty four watched as the knife flipped through the air, over and over again, until the blade finally came to a stop - right between the unicorn’s eyes. The unicorn’s face had the same expression of surprise as Star’s when he opened his eyes to see that the enemy was suddenly dead. Looking to both sides, he turned around and spotted Frost and Twenty four making their way to him. When they finally reached him, Star asked, “what happened? One moment I’m fighting him, the next he has a knife sticking out of him, and you’re all the way over there. Did you throw it, Twenty four?” “Yeah, I saw that you were losing, so I thought I’d help out a little. “Hm, well, that’s quite the throw you made. Think you can teach me?” he asked, a pleading look in his eyes. “Well, if your magic’s not much different from using a super-suit, then sure,” Twenty four responded. Star looked like he was about ask a question, when Frost spoke up. “Star, you can ask him questions later. Look,” he said. It was only then that Twenty four had realized how far they had moved during the battle. They were currently on the same hill Twenty four had woken up on, and from that vantage point they were able to see the two armies march toward each other. Twenty four saw as the final push from the enemy. The remaining twenty of them stood in a square formation, moving toward the main body of the rebel army, about the same number of ponies, which Twilight and the other five of her friends were leading. “I suppose we join in?” Twenty four asked. “I suppose so,” Frost answered. “O.k, here’s the plan: we go and join up with the rest of the army, and take out whatever remains of the Queen’s forces.” “Good enough,” Star said. Twenty four agreed. “Then let’s go,” Frost said, and started running down the hill, Twenty four and Star following suit. They ran at the rebel army, and even going as fast as they were, it took a few minutes to reach their allies. By the time they mixed into the rebels the fighting had already started. During the course of the battle, Twenty four stayed close to the three ponies he had been with all day - he could tell because the sun had started to sink down to the horizon. They used the same strategy that they had used with the smaller groups of soldiers: Twenty four would disable the enemies, and Frost and Star would finish them. They ran into a few problems, however, when they encountered a fairly large group of unicorns, too many for Star and the other unicorns to handle. As Twenty four tried to find a gap in the enemy’s magic, he saw a bright flash of white, and the unicorns were turned to stone. And not only the unicorns - apparently most of the soldiers around them had been frozen as well. Well why didn’t they just do that earlier? Twenty four asked himself, and made a mental note to ask Twilight later. Twenty four and his two friends weaved their way through the statutes of enemies and came upon the remaining soldiers - who swiftly fled after seeing what had happened to their comrades. “That’s right, you better run!” Star yelled after them. Twenty four saw Frost shake his head, a grin on his face. “Come on, Star, no need to make a fool of yourself, we won!” Frost said to the unicorn, turning away from the fleeing soldiers. “We won already?” Twenty four questioned. It surprised him after so much fighting that it had ended so abruptly. “We sure did. But, I have to thank you for having our backs, Twenty four,” Frost said, facing him. “Ah, that was nothing! You should’ve seen some of the fights I got in back home…” Twenty four trailed off as the memories of jobs gone wrong jumped to his thoughts. They always ended up pretty crazy. “Hm, you might have to tell me some stories about where you came from,” Frost responded, as he and Star started walking back towards Ponyville. Twenty four joined them, the ground under his feet already shining gray now that the moon had risen over the horizon. They all were silent as they walked, contemplating after all the fighting. Twenty four realized that he hadn’t even fired a bullet during the whole battle. The thought made him laugh. Frost gave a an odd glance, “what’s so funny?” “Oh… Well I realized during that whole battle, I didn’t even have to use a single bullet!” Star looked at him, “Oh, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do!” he said, laughing himself. Laughing, all three of them continued across the plains, to the now lit town of Ponyville. The statues of all the enemies behind them. Twenty four could only guess how many more would soon be on their way, and how much longer he had left before he would have to kill yet again. He gripped his knife, and drew it out, the edge bloodied; he would have to clean it later. But inevitably, there would be more blood on it. That Twenty four was sure of. But he would make sure that it would taste Celestia’s blood. One way, or another. R&REnd of Time The town - Ponyville, Twenty four remembered Twilight had named it - was bustling when their group of three entered the city limits. Even on the outskirts, the village had ponies: the wounded, and the medical staff who were tending to them; natural after a battle He walked through the rows of ponies, all darkened by the night.The moon was bright, however, and Twenty four could see some with missing hooves, some with painful-looking wounds, others missing entire limbs. Twenty four felt nothing as he looked at the soldiers, for he had seen enough combat to know that it was inevitable to not have wounded or dead after such a battle like this. Likewise, the ponies looked up at Twenty four with awe in their eyes, along with fear and, obviously, pain. They finally walked past the makeshift hospital, and as they entered the more populated parts of the town, Frost spoke. “I hear that there’s a hospital near here - a real one - but that the commanders still aren't entirely sure whether or not there are still enemies in there. ‘Till they are, those poor guys will have to make do with what they’ve got.” Twenty four nodded in understanding. “Well, if we can put aside the wounded for now, I’d like to-” he stopped as he saw a group of three soldiers making their way towards him. Hm, seems I have some visitors, he thought, and started to move forward to meet them. When the trio reached him, they each bowed slightly. The lead soldier, obviously one of a higher rank than the other two, spoke. “Greetings, Twenty four. Your presence is requested by commander Twilight Sparkle. We are here to lead you there.” Twenty four looked back at his friends. “You guys go on ahead, I’ll meet up with you later. This won’t take long,” he said, though he wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth. “Mh, it better not. We’ll be waiting for you,” Frost said in response. Then the two ponies moved past Twenty four, heading to what seemed to be a bar… or “tavern” if he was reading the sign correctly. Only then did he notice that their written language looked more like random glyphs than anything that resembled written English. Probably just a… cognate? Yeah, that’s it, Twenty four thought to himself as he followed the guards through the streets, to whatever destination they were leading him to When they finally reached their destination, Twenty four was not sure whether he was impressed or not. The location where he was supposed to meet Twilight was… A giant tree. Really? Twenty four thought as he walked alongside his escorts. Even if it was just a tree, it was hundreds of times thicker and taller than anything he had ever seen on Earth. It looked like it could have been a house, which it probably was, and surrounding it was a translucent, purple dome - magic. He was expecting himself to slam into the wall painfully, but he passed right through it, as did his guards. Not paying much attention to that, however, Twenty four continued to walk closer and closer to the red door of the tree. When he finally reached the entrance, the door glowed blue, and swung open. Standing in the interior of the tree was a guard, who gave him a salute. Returning the gesture loosely, Twenty four passed through the door, two of his escorts stopping short of the entrance and moving into positions on the outside of the tree. The higher-ranked soldier followed Twenty four into the tree, and led Twenty four quickly to a stairway that led down into a basement of some sort. Even with the short amount of time he had to inspect his surroundings, Twenty four saw bookshelf upon bookshelf. So, it’s some kind of library? Hm, never read much myself… he thought as he descended the stairs to the unknown location below. When he stepped off the final step, the same guard in front of him, he realized that it was in fact a basement. Bookshelves lined the walls here, too, and a large desk covered in paper stood in the center of the room. Amid the piles of sheets was Twilight, looking up at him, her face serious, even after a victory.“You may leave us now, General,” she said to the last of Twenty four’s escort. Bowing, he moved out of the room, and back up the stairs. Mh, a general, escorting me? Well, don’t I feel special, Twenty four thought as he walked up to her. “You wanted to see me, Commander? Twilight nodded.“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about your involvement in this war. You fought in the most recent battle, correct?” “Yes, I did, couldn't just sit on the sidelines, could I?” Twilight raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, but continued. “Yes, I heard descriptions of you fighting with some kind of…” she flipped through a few papers. “‘Magical knife’?” “Well, it wasn’t magic. Just technology. I’m not sure how it works, but when I hold the knife, it can cut through things - well, I only tried it out on armor, but I’m sure it can cut through other stuff too.” “Is there anyway we could study your technology to improve our forces?” “I… don’t think so. The technology in here is very advanced. Even I don't entirely how all it works myself,” Twenty four admitted. “I… see. Well, if you ever get the chance, will there be a way for us to at the very least inspect your armor and weaponry?” “Of course, when I get the chance, I can let you inspect it.” “I suppose you want to know additional information on the war?” Twilight asked. That was what Twenty four had wanted to know. “Yes, if you can spare anything.” “Very well, what is it you-” Twilight was interrupted as the voice of the general came from the top of the staircase. “Commander, the battle reports have come in.” “Very well, I will see to them immediately,” Twilight called back, her face suddenly looking weary and stressed. “I suppose I will have to answer your questions at a later date. I have to deal with the reports, however.” “I understand, Commander. Hope the papers won’t be too harsh?” Twenty four said, Twilight smiling slightly. “I’ll be on my way. Goodbye, Twilight.” “Farewell, Twenty four. But before you leave… you don’t think you could tell me your real name?” “Whenever I get around to it, I sure will,” he answered. Making his way up the steps, he exchanged salutes with the door guard, and made his way outside. Now, where is that bar… err tavern? Twenty four sat awkwardly - most likely because he was sitting on a seat built for a creature half his size and weight. Not even counting the weight of his suit, as he had only now realized how light it was - surprising when compared with the weight of gear back in his own time. The suit was not only lightweight, but also seemed out of place in his current location. Well, it would seem out of place everywhere, now that Twenty four thought about it, even in his own time. I’d wonder what people would think if I walked down Main street with this on. Twenty four chuckled to himself, imagining the expressions of pedestrians as he strut down what he remembered to be one of the busiest streets in New York. Ah, how I’ll miss that place… “So, Twenty - can I call you that? Maybe ‘Four’, for short?” Star asked, snapping Twenty four out of his daydream. “Hm? Oh, sure. It’s your call, Star,” Twenty four replied. “Well then, Four, how about you tell us how you got here? I only saw you talk with the commanders and suddenly you’re on our side,” Star said, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. “I’d like know as well,” Frost said. “I didn’t even see you until Star pointed you out; well, we saw how helpless”-he chuckled slightly- “ you looked, and, well; you know the rest.” “Yea, and in return, we can give you some details on this war, or anything about us, if you want,” Star added, sounding close to begging Twenty four for his story. Well, at least he shows enthusiasm, Twenty four remarked. “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll tell you how I got here,” he paused to clear his throat, then began. “Hm, well, I don’t know how I can make this make sense, so I’ll give it my best shot-” “How about you tell us what you are first?” Star realized he had interrupted him, and quickly added, “I mean… if you want.” “Fine,” Twenty four said, shooting Star a glance… well, if he didn’t have his suit covering his face, he would have shot him a glance that he would have seen. “I am a human. Homo sapien, though I’m probably pronouncing that wrong,” he chuckled. “My kind are…” he paused, unsure of what words he should choose. Should he try to make his kind look godlike in front of these creatures? Make his name feared throughout his enemies, but at the same time his friends? He decided no, he would describe them as he knew his kind were. “...Creative, adaptable, we can take any situation that’s against us and turn it in our favor, make it work for us… We invent machines to help us make life suitable to our needs, destroying what we see fit to make life better for others… and at the same time we can use our knowledge against one-another. Wars, terrible wars, started over the smallest of problems. We’d kill anything standing in our way, even if that means going through each other. We put boundaries and labels on everything we saw; people; land. It made us farther away from each other, even when we lived only a few miles apart. And when the time finally came for us to stand together…” Twenty four looked up. Both Star and Frost were staring at him, their eyes wide. “Wait… what happened? Some kind of... final war? Did your people kill each other off?” Star asked, next to him, Frost seemed to be wanting the answer to the same question. “No, what happened was… we were attacked by ponies. Your kind,” as Twenty four said this, a look of shock appeared on Star’s face, and he spoke. “What? But… does that mean… your people live in the…” “The Farlands,” Frost supplied. “Yes, interesting. Does that mean that your kind were the ones who had been killing all the exploration crews we had sent?” “I’m not sure, it could be, but since there are plenty of predators who could have killed them off too, I can’t be sure. But I can tell you what happened on that final war with your kind. Your kind were being led by Princess Celestia. My kind had first met with your leader when giant ships powered by coal landed off the shores of Africa - one of our continents.” “At first, we had no idea what you ponies were, so we sent diplomats, politicians, and military to the place where we had gotten reports of flashing lights and explosions - like a full-scale war was going on. I was there, and when our forces reached the area…” “What? What happened? What did C-” Star was cut off as Frost covered his mouth with a hoof. When he removed it, Star grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m just really curious about this… I mean, when I saw you just take down that soldier with one blow, and then seeing what you did with that knife, well you can’t blame me for being interested, now can you?” Twenty four sighed quietly. “No one said I was mad at you, Star, you’re just a bit… enthusiastic.” “Mh, I’ll second that,” Frost said. Star shot him an exasperated look. Frost was about to say something to the youth, when Twenty four interrupted. “Hey! Well, do you want to listen to me, or not?” “Yes, please continue, I want to know what happened!” Star said in a voice that sounded nearly pleading. “Okay… Well, when our forces made it to the village, we saw that the whole population had been vaporized - no bodies, no nothing. And standing in the middle of it - was Celestia. We tried to communicate, but nothing happened. Then, Celestia attacked.” “Soldiers came at us from all sides, we were only lucky that unicorns had not been able to figure out how our weaponry worked ‘till after the first few battles. We narrowly got away, but not without losing a fair number of people.” “Well, I can see Celestia doing something like that,” Frost said. “M-hm, well, anyway. There was a lot of fighting around the world in all of our other countries, the weakest falling first. It was chaos. Thousands of people left without homes, and hundreds of thousands dying… I was sent to do certain missions around the world, under the command of the G.A, the Global Army. Assassination, sabotage, you name it; I’ve done it.” “Well, what happened next?” Star asked. “How did you come to get here?” “As our countries fell and our armies were defeated, only a few remained. One of them was my country, but even then it was starting to lose ground by the day, until, finally, the ponies reached New York. It was the last safe place left in the country, and we were all but finished. Now, this is where I come in again. I had been called to New York for something, what, I did not know.” “We were at the very end when I was finally showed what I was supposed to do. My kind had been developing a secret weapon-” “-That suit! That’s the weapon, right?” Star blurted. “Yes… it was. Well, turns out that they had made it so this suit could handle traveling back in time… only problem was that we still didn’t know how to use time travel. So, we captured some unicorns, and, somehow, made them use magic on me to send me back in time… and I ended up here.” “That’s it?” Star said. “Well, what? It’s just a shortened version of it. I don’t want to bore you with all the facts. Besides, you have some stuff to tell me.” Twenty four said, gesturing in turn to the pair of ponies, then to himself. “Well, wait, wait,” Star started. “Can you tell what weapons you have? Other than that knife? Like what you hit that soldier out with when I first-” “All right. Ugh, how do you put up with this guy, Frost?” Twenty four asked the elder pony. “Ah, a question I ask myself every day,” Frost answered. “Just tell ‘em, and we’ll tell you what you want to know.” “All right, but I’m not describing them in detail, Star,” Twenty four looked at the pony. “Wooo, come on, then,” Star responded, an odd grin on his face. Twenty four reached down and pulled the pistol free from its holster. Holding it up for the two to see, he held it as if he was about to fire it. It was also the first time he had time to inspect his weaponry, and certainly the gun in his hands was state-of-the-art. The whole thing was a silver metal, with black rubber for the grip, looking similar to a regular gun. But that was were the similarities ended. Where the hammer would usually be, there was a small rectangular box, with a small screen set into it and small holes on the side. The gun was twice the width of a normal pistol, and seemed to be only fireable with two hands. He wasn’t sure what the screen was for, but he would find out when he had time. “This,” Twenty four gestured with the pistol, “is a ‘gun’. It launches pieces of metal using magnets at very high speeds, with different projectiles - bullets - doing different things. Some can explode, some can stun someone, but I don’t think that’s an option with this small gun.” Twenty four reached behind him to grab the rifle off of his back, but felt something pull at the pistol in his hands. He looked down to see that the weapon was glowing creme colored - magic, and that specifically of - “Star!” Twenty four shouted at the pony - who, in turn, fell off his chair and collapsed on the floor. The magic disappeared afterwards. “Star, are you really so impatient, or stupid… or both?” “Sorry?” Star tried, but he got no ground with Twenty four. Or Frost, who started speaking to the youth in a harsher tone than Twenty four had ever hear him use. “No.” Frost said, looking down at the pony. “Why would you do something like that? He didn’t even explain how it worked, and yet you still try and grab it with your magic? What if you set it off? You could've hurt somepony! I’m not your father to go around telling you what to do.” “Yes, you’re... not... father. You’ll never be” Star said, looking up at Frost with a pained and sorrowful expression. The two stared at each other for several moments until Frost grumbled in response, and lowered a hoof to help Star off the floor. Once he was back on his hooves, Frost spoke to Star. “Ahh... I’m sorry if… I didn’t mean anything by it. You know that. I just don’t want to see you make some stupid mistake, we’ve been through too much together.” Star looked straight at Frost as he replied. “I know, I know…” Twenty four coughed, getting the two’s attention. “Now, if we’re done with the arguments, how about my questions, huh? Firstly: Who are you guys? I’ve told you a bit about myself, now it’s you gotta return the favor.” “All right,” Frost turned to face Twenty four. “Well, not much to say about us, really. We both used to live in Manehatten, which was a closely guarded city back then. I used to be a weather pony there and Star lived with his parents, we were neighbors… That was until the Rebellion came and liberated the city. Lots of dead ponies… among them were Star’s parents. I found him, saved him from some guards, and I suppose I adopted him, becoming a stepfather of sorts. Teaching him how to fight, how to survive in a battle, the basics,” as Frost spoke, Twenty four made a mental note to ask him more about his past, he seemed to have a very special set of skills for just a weather pony… whatever that was. “Hm, I see, so how about these ‘Elements of Harmony’? Anything on those things?” Twenty four asked, hoping to find an answer. Those pieces of jewelry that could turn dozens of soldiers into statues had certainly piqued his curiosity. “Well, as far as we know,” Star answered, “they’re magical objects that only the Bearers of Harmony can use. Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Each representing their own element: honesty, magic, loyalty, laughter, generosity, and kindness,” Star finished with a wide smile, obviously proud that he could be teaching Twenty four something. Frost and Star continued informing Twenty four on what the Elements were, as well as basics of ponies, things that he didn’t know. Apparently, pegasi could control the weather, but had not been able to ever since the battle. Eventually the time came when the trio was asked to leave, and they complied. Rain had started up, making the already-dark night even harder to see in. “I guess you can come find a place with us for the night, Four,” Star said to him as they walked through the streets. “Really? I mean, if you don’t mind-” “-Oh, enough of that!” Frost interrupted. “You’re a friend and friends help each other out. I assume Commander Twilight must have been too busy to get you accommodations, and the camp is too far away from here, so you’re comin with us.” They continued to stumble through the streets, until, finally, they reached a house they could use for the night. It was a big house; each of them had their own room, which was fine with Twenty four. And now the only problem is taking this thing off… Twenty four decided to start with something simple. “Open,” he said. A series of beeping followed. Voice authorization confirmed. Release? “Yes,”The suit began to shudder, and the back of the suit gave way, with Twenty four spilling out onto the floor, the suit remaining upright. “Wow…” Twenty four heard Star’s voice, but his eyes hadn’t adjusted from the constant red tint for him to open them. “You’re a really weird looking thing, aren't you?” “Shut it, Star,” Twenty four replied. “Can’t say your kind were too pretty looking when we first saw them.” “Hm, up and out I see,” Twenty four opened his eyes to reveal Frost and Star both standing by the door, looking down at him. “No, for once, Star has a point: you are pretty funny-lookin,” he heard a chuckle from Star, and he groaned. “Enough of that, I have a very important question to ask you,” Twenty four said as he stood up from the floor. “And that is…?” Frost retorted. “Where is the bathroom in this place?” TransitionEnd of Time ________________________________________________________________________________ Agent Twenty four watched New York from the window of one of the last standing human landmarks - the Empire State Building. He watched as small spots of gunfire flashed across the once-grand city, lighting up the twilight. Suddenly, off in the distance, he saw a flash of golden magic, followed by a larger explosion - one that could have only come from a explosive of some kind. He pitied the fact the humanity had lost. Certainly, he had done his part for the war. Recon, assassination, sabotage; the basics. He knew that he had killed many ponies - and before that he had specialized in killing people, and had been one of the very best. He was glad that he had been able help in the effort, but it had come to this. He knew what he had to do. He had been brought here for that very purpose. He turned and walked to the elevator, and waited. The doors opened and a unimpressive man stepped out. Short, a small patch of gray hair on his otherwise bald head, and wearing a suit that, seemed completely unnecessary at the end of humanity, was the last president of the United Sates. "Hello, Agent Twenty four," the President called him by his number simply because there was no need for names in this type of business; no one would have wanted to be associated with death. "Hello, Mr. President," Twenty four said, no emotion in his voice. Emotion was something that Twenty four liked to avoid when speaking with employers - even if he was one as important as the President. "We have lost," the President said simply, and gestured toward the open elevator . "You know what we have to do, Twenty four," he said as they both stepped into the elevator. "Yes, I know," Twenty four responded. They started moving downward, past the first floor, and beyond. The Agent knew that the generators underground would be producing power, and that nothing could cut off it's supply. But nevertheless, time was of the essence, as it would only be a matter of time before the ponies reached the building. The doors finally opened to reveal a large, somewhat rectangular room. The walls were unfinished - and most likely would never be - and were the gray color of stone lit only by lights that hung from the ceiling. The wall facing them a small, square metal plate, made of two halves. The floor was mostly taken up by computers and large wires that ran to center of the room, and connected to a small, raised metallic disk. On that disk stood a large black suit made of some kind of metal, wires running from the neck and along the back to the head. In its hand was a extremely advanced-looking sniper rifle. This was the reason that he was here. This was the reason that they were all here. A man in a generic white lab coat, spectacles, and unremarkable face walked up to them. His badge read, Lester Henforth, Lead technician "Hello Mr. President... Hello Agent Twenty four." They each said their greetings in return, and the head scientist lead them to the suit. "This is it?" The President asked, appearing unimpressed. "It may not look like much, but it's the most advanced thing humanity has ever built. This suit has been in development for the past ten years, Mr. President, as you well know, right before the war started." "What does it do?" Twenty four asked. "Many... many things. But I can explain after you're in it, sir," He paused and turned to a monitor on a far side of the room. "There is not much time left." Agent Twenty four stepped up to the platform, behind the suit. He waited as Lester pressed a few buttons, and the entire back of the suit, from the feet and legs to the back of the head opened up. "Now, you're not going in there dress like that, Agent Twenty four," Lester said, walking to him. "You can't be wearing that when... well you'll see for yourself." The scientist handed him a large, one-piece article of clothing, some kind of thin, heavy fabric. The Agent stripped off his clothes and donned the strange clothing quickly, for they had wasted too much time already. He stepped into the suit and he felt as the back of it closed around him, encasing him in metal. Light came extremely faintly through the dark view screen. his vision turned from darkness, to a red-tinted vision screen and a Heads-Up-Display. "Brace yourself, Agent, this will hurt," Lester's voice came through extremely faintly. A few moments later, Twenty four felt small pricks on various parts of his body, and a terrible shock afterwards. A few moments later, a faint humming started, and the suit came to life. "There. It should be online. Twenty four, can you hear me? Please respond if you can." Agent Twenty four did as asked. "Good. Sorry for the shock, that was for the suit to be able to match your movements easier. This is our kind's final invention. A super-suit, if you wish to put such a bland title on it. This suit increases your strength, vision, it even grants you the power to be invisible for a short time. The gun you are holding uses magnetism to fire the bullets, which include; incendiary, explosive, or a bullet that sends out a large amount of electricity that knocks a target unconscious, and all of them are fired completely silently. There is also a similar handgun magnetized into the holster on your right side. The whole suit is powered by solar panels installed in the shoulders and head, and has a small battery to release you in case of power failure." "And how is this supposed to stop that war? Everything's already gone to far to rebuild even if we do win," Twenty four asked the technician. "Well... this suit, with you in it-" "We are going to send you back in time, Twenty four, to kill Princess Celestia," The President said, as if he was simply stating the weather. "And just how do you expect to do that?" Twenty four asked. "Unless you're telling me that this suit has time travel built in?" "No," Lester answered. "Twenty four, the answer is, ironically, magic." As soon as the sentence left his mouth, the two metal plates on the far side of the wall slid open to reveal a glass plate, and behind it, were two unicorn ponies - small wires strapped onto their horns, and larger ones strapped onto their bodies. "You see, Twenty four, while we can't use magic ourselves, we can get others to do it for us," Lester said, gesturing to the two ponies. "Due to our research on the basics of time travel, we can be certain that this suit can withstand one travel through time," Lester explained. The President spoke up then, "Twenty four, you know that there is no going back from this once it has started. You will succeed in your mission, or humanity is doomed." "And just how is it that you know that if I do kill Celestia, that it won't destroy time, or some other shit like that?" "We can not," the President answered. "We have the location of where the ponies came from, and our... guests will provide you the means of transportation." A quiet beeping started then. "Sir! It is time we send him off!" Lester seemed worried. An explosion rang from above, the lights shook, and small pebbles rained down. "Agreed. Twenty four, you are our best and last agent. This is the most important mission anyone has undertaken. For all of humanity, you must succeed. Farewell." Twenty four looked up to the two unicorns -no sound came, but they appeared to be screaming - their horns glowed, and the wires attached to their horns glowed the same color. The large wires that connected to the disk Twenty four was on began to glow the same color as the magic of the ponies. He felt as the suit began to vibrate and a strange, low hum began to resound inside of his head. Then a flash of white consumed him, and Agent Twenty four was no more.
EndEnd of Time ________________________________________________________________________________ Jason knew was going to die long before it happened. He expected it, and he dreaded every minute that passed that he was out in the open, running through the large streets. The rest of his team had been killed, torn to pieces by the unicorns, or impaled by the swords and spears of the rest. It seemed like magic that the ponies had defeated them. And that was the reason they had lost: magic. Magic. That one ability had destroyed most of the armies of Humanity. When they had first met the ponies, Humans could not fathom what the horns were for, and suffered the consequence when the war started. Magic had been used to destroy tanks, planes, entire armies had been decimated when their guns had stopped functioning, or just blew up in their hands. Whatever those damn unicorns wished, happened. Not that there hadn't been any victories. In the last few battles, people had adapted and began using tactics that caught the ponies by surprise, or utterly destroyed them through sheer number and technology. Unfortunately, the ponies kept adapting to whatever strategy they threw at them. Though, that had all come to nothing. Now, the ponies had defeated most of the other countries on Earth, though Jason hadn't heard any updates on who was left for some time now. He did know that this was likely America's last stand, here in New York. He remembered with slight pity at how, just about a decade ago, humans had been fighting about a horrible war in what used to the Middle East. Divided they had been then, and now, at their species darkest hour, divided they died. He supposed that was one of the reasons the ponies had won: they stood together, all of their kind, even with their obvious differences. He was about to turn down a small alleyway, but stopped dead in his tracks. Walking through it was a group of about three ponies; one unicorn, the other two were pegasi. He immediately dropped down on the ground before the caught sight of him. Holding his breath and being as still as he could, he heard the sound of hoofstepes as the enemy soldiers approached him. "Check this out," a distinctively male voice said. "Poor guy. We'll have to see if he's dead, don't want that trick pulled on me twice." So, you've heard this one before? Jason thought to himself as the three stopped next to him. There were a few moments of silence, and then he felt a hoof hit him square in the back, bruising him at best. It took all of his self control not to move, but it hurt. A lot. He felt tears come to his eyes, but with his face down they wouldn't see anything. Then another voice broke the silence. "You didn't have to do that, Storm," this voice sounded feminine. Jason's past experience with ponies showed that females were just as dangerous as the males. Even more so, as they could be pleading for mercy one moment, then the next, they would stick a knife in your throat. "I could have just checked with my magic." As she uttered this sentence, a faint hum and tinkling sound that Jason knew all too well - the sound of magic. He just had to wait for the right moment to strike, now. His hand had already been next to his holster for his pistol, he grabbed the handle of the gun, and waited. "Oh no. He's still alive!" Jason heard the unicorn say, he heard swords being drawn, and he flipped over, the gun aimed at the unicorn. "You bet, bitch," Jason said as he pulled the trigger. For the moment that he had seen her face, the pony had looked to be young, but any trances of youth on her face were blown away as the bullet hit her. He rolled away from the ponies and heard as the tips of swords scraped across the ground he had been on moments ago. Leaping up to his feet, he saw that the ponies had closed in on him quickly. He raised his gun, and precisely fired two shots at the closest pegasus. That left only one, which he quickly dispatched in the same way. Finding his magazine empty, he reached down and grabbed his last full magazine. Last mag... Better make it count. He knew where he had to go, he had been debriefed on where to head if things went south for him. After walking for ten more minutes without any encounter, he finally reached the safe zone. As he approached the small, ruined building that was currently the only safe haven left in this part of town, he gave the signal that meant it was safe. After a few moments of tense silence, he saw a hand give the okay signal. He sprinted to the entrance of the building and dove inside. "Jason, glad to see you," he heard a deep voice address him. Ty, a close friend of his, told him as he rose from the floor. "Ty, good to see you, too," Jason told him. "Jason, please tell me... Is everyone... " Ty's face changed to one of worry. "Yes, they're... dead. We ran into a group of ponies and they tore us apart. I got away... Everyone else didn't make it." "Shit," Ty said. Frankly, that was what Jason felt like right now. Ty suddenly lifted his head. "Shh... You hear that?" Jason focused his hearing. The sound that met his ears was like thunder. Thud. Thud. Thud It was only then that he realized what he was hearing were hoofs - and lots of them. Jason went over to the nearest window, and risked a glance outside. What he saw was disheartening, to say the least. Ponies - dozens of them, and in the front, a shining white pegasus - wait, no unicorn. The harder Jason looked, the more he realized that the pony was a mixture of both. Princess Celestia had come to finish it. Jason removed his head from the window and walked back to Ty. "Princess Celestia's here," he told his friend. She was know for destroying everything. When she showed up, that usually meant that whoever was fighting her was screwed. "... So she's finally showed up?" Ty said with a face that seemed that he had accepted his fate. Jason supposed he had, too. With everyone he loved or cared about, dead, he only had one wish: revenge. "We have C4 here?" Jason asked Ty. "We do, brother, not a lot, but we do," Ty responded, a wicked smile growing on his face. "You ready to show these ponies hell?" Ty asked. Jason nodded. They had been over the plan: they would wait for the small army of ponies to move directly under the building. Then, they would kill themselves with the C4, for they had both given up on life by now, might as well go out with a bang. The ponies were close now. In a few moments, it would be time to end it. Jason and Ty both pressed down on the trigger for the explosive and held it down. The ponies were finally right below them. The two friends looked at each other one last time, and they jumped through the window, fell one story, and into the center of the mass of ponies. Right before he hit the ground, Jason released the trigger. But in the brief second before that, he swore he could hear a soft... hum and a tinkling sound.
GreetingsEnd of Time ________________________________________________________________________________ At first, all was dark. Then, with a bright flash of white light, Twenty four was in a shimmering tunnel of some sort. It certainly was not through any mountain or similar construct like back on Earth. This tunnel seemed to have walls made of space, literally, it seemed as if it was a roll of blue, starry sky. Twenty four was at the end of this tunnel, staring down at a strange, bright light at the end. So this is what they mean by “light at the end of the tunnel”, thought Twenty four. And with that, he took his first step forward. Twenty four had noticed that there was no floor, and cautiously took another small step forward. As soon as he did, an image began to show on the star-lined walls of the tunnel. Twenty four stopped and looked at the image on his left, like a movie projector. It showed a scene of what he supposed was himself in front of Princess Celestia. She seemed to be speaking to him, but no sound came from the image. In fact, no sound came from anywhere;it was utterly quiet. Twenty four moved farther down the tunnel. Another image appeared. This one showed him bowing to Princess Celestia, holding his gun up to her; surrendering. Like hell. What are these: visions of the future? Twenty four shrugged off the feeling that they were set in stone, and moved forward yet again. only a couple of steps away from the light. At this point, his head started to have a horrible pain blossom through it, joined by a low hum and tinkling sound: magic. As he was only one step away from reaching the end of the tunnel, the pain and volume of the hum increasing, one final image showed itself on the wall, possibly the most disturbing. It showed him aiming his rifle at Celestia: who was not appearing frightened in the slightest, the glow as he fired a bullet, and then the image shifted. His suit, torn into pieces, along with his body, with Celestia smiling almost insanely over his body, her horn still glowing. The image shifted one final time: Celestia stood on what seemed to be the remains of a city, thousands of human bodies, either in chains, or dead, standing before her and an army of armored ponies. The image melted away, and Twenty four turned to face the light, now right in front of him. Whatever happens, I won’t let it be that. And, with the pain and noise reaching a crescendo, he stepped through the wall of light. Pain was the first thing Twenty four felt. Along with the pain was an annoying ringing in his ears, and a sharp pain in his head. While annoying, the senses told him that he was alive. He had made it here, wherever here was. He opened his eyes to reveal a beautiful, if redish afternoon sky, most likely due to the suit’s vision tint. Wait, what suit? Where am I, he focused, and did not panic. The memories of his mission returned to him, and what was at stake. If I don’t kill Celestia, then all of humanity is doomed. He attempted to get to his feet, but a horrible wave of dizziness overcame him, and he was forced to wait for the effect to pass. When at last it did, he stood up again and surveyed his surroundings. He was standing on a hill. Before him were rolling plains, more hills, far to his left was a giant forest and farther off, what appeared to be a mountain with something white and gold on the side. But then he moved his gaze downward, and the he saw something that piqued his curiosity: a village or at least something that seemed like one, with smoke rising from some of the buildings, as if a fire had been put out. He began to move shakily forward towards the village, and partway down the hill, he fell and began to roll down the slope of the hill. He reached out and stopped himself with his metal-encased arm. He sat up, clenched his fist, and stood. I can’t be like that. I have to make it through this. He stood, and continued walking to the village. Twenty four was not sure what to think when he finally made it to the town. After numerous minutes of walking, he came to the small pony settlement. He passed the first row of small cottages that made up the outskirts of the town, and was instantly faced with what looked like a battle - or, at least, what was left of one. He was standing in a small alleyway between two houses, and before him was what he guessed the center of town, a large, open space with a tall building in the middle. Scattered around the field in front of Twenty four, were groups of ponies fighting with swords and magic. One apparent faction was made up of ponies in golden armor, while the other was suited in silver and dark blue armor. The two groups were swinging swords at each other, In the center of all the fighting, there were six ponies in no armor, but they all had pieces of jewelry; for five of them they wore necklaces, but a purple-colored one in the center had a tiara on. The six ponies floated into the air, and a large flash of white light blinded Twenty four. When the light died down, he opened his eyes to see that no more of the golden-armored ponies were left. They were all set in stone, frozen like statues. What the hell did they just do? Twenty four had never seen anything like that before, not even with the displays of magic in the war. He hadn't been seen yet, but it was inevitable, as he heard a yell. “What is that?” With that, Twenty four brought his rifle to his hands and stepped forward. He started walking towards the group of six ponies, but one of the soldiers ran at him, brandishing a sword. Twenty four waited until he was close, then spun his rifle in his hands and as the soldier swung his sword, Twenty four met it with his gun. Blocking two more swings, Twenty four saw an opening, and hit the pony in the head with the butt of the rifle. The pony fell back, dazed, and Twenty four walked past him, continuing his stride to the ponies. As he walked, he took a look at the creatures that had frozen dozens of armored soldiers. There were two unicorns, two pegasi, and two regular ponies. They just watched as he approached, and then the purple one with the tiara spoke. “What and who are you?” “I would like to know the same thing. Tell me where I am and who you are, and I’ll answer your questions,” Twenty four said back. The purple one seemed irritated, but she spoke a few seconds later. “I am Twilight Sparkle, once the student of Princess Celestia. Or Queen, I should say. This land is Equestria, and this village is Ponyville, and it was just freed of its oppression - just now, actually. Now I ask again: what are you?” “You can call me Twenty four. I am a human, and I am from another time, sent here to complete a mission.” Twenty four had already decided that these ponies could be the enemy, and he would have to kill them if the need arose; therefore, it was vital he gave away as little information he could.“What about this war with Celestia? Why is this happening? I thought ponies respected her.” From what Twenty four had seen in the war, it seemed they would follow her no matter what. Why would they be fighting her? Twilight Sparkle snorted. “Most used to but a few years back she claimed that she wished to conquer the Far Lands; places far away from here where it is said that very dangerous and powerful creatures live. Many ponies thought that Celestia was mad; nopony has ever dared to go there, for anypony who has left has never returned. I used to be her ‘most faithful student’ and we were her friends, once, but I read whatever I could about those lands, and we all tried to change her reasoning: that there was no need to risk so many lives on a hopeless quest. She insisted, and declared that anypony who went against her reasoning would be considered a traitor. I had no idea what had happened to her, it seemed as if something had twisted her into whatever she is now. She turned on us, for reasons that we still don’t know of, and tried to imprison us. Princess Luna, Celestia’s sister helped us, but she stayed behind to ensure our escape… We hope that she is still alive, but we have been fighting Celestia for months now, and many good ponies have been lost. I, along with the other Elements of Harmony, have been leading our soldiers in the battles that have happened all over Equestria, from city to city. We are close to the final battle, in Canterlot, where we will either dethrone Celestia or die trying.” “Well, I suppose I can assist you with that goal,” Twenty four said, he made a mental note to find out what these "Elements" were. Were they what had just frozen all of those soldiers? “Really?” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “How so… Is this the ‘mission’ you spoke of?” “Yes, it is. My mission… is to kill Princess Celestia.” Twilight’s eyes widened at that. “Yes. I was sent back in time to eliminate Celestia before… well, that’s not important. I have been outfitted with some of the most powerful technology my kind has ever made. If you wish for my help…” Twenty four paused, unsure. Could he give his help to these ponies? They had a common goal; that much was certain. But would they turn on me after that goal’s accomplished? Twenty four thought. In his line of business, it was best not to trust anyone. But he had seen how easily the dozens of soldiers had been turned to stone. If he made an enemy of this group, he could end up the same way. He made up his mind, and spoke. “...If you wish for my help if dethroning Celestia, I would be more than happy to pull the trigger myself.” Twilight seemed confused at his choice of words, but nodded her head, agreeing. She was about to respond when a voice cried out, “Commander Twilight, reinforcements have arrived!” Twilight looked back at the other ponies with her, nodded at them, and they returned the gesture. Picking up weapons from fallen soldiers, the five ran off in the direction that the voice had called, along with the few other soldiers nearby. Twilight herself picked up two swords from the ground with her magic, and turned to Twenty four. “Let’s see how that technology of yours holds up, Twenty four,” she said, then sprinted off in the same direction that her friends had. Twenty four lifted his rifle, checked the magazine; even though he knew he hadn't fired any shots, it was still an old habit. Checking his handgun, and as well, finding a knife on his suit, he ran down the same street that everyone else had. This might not have been the land of sunshine and butterflies that Twenty four had expected, but, what did it matter? He liked this a whole lot more. “
To BattleEnd of Time As Twenty four ran towards the battle, his mind ran through with its usual list of emotions before he killed; anticipation, anxiety, possibly a small amount of fear at fighting these strange ponies once again. While he wasn’t afraid of fighting to the death; he had been trained for years in the art of killing, and had become highly proficient in it, not that he enjoyed it - he was simply afraid. Fear: an annoying emotion that he had to deal with when facing an uncertain outcome. It was a basic one, one that he had become accustomed to, that he had learned to bend to work in his favor. And he was prepared to do just that as two gold-clad ponies charged him. As they ran, Twenty four noticed that their armor was different from the bodies of the soldiers he had seen in the previous battle. The plates of gold armor wrapped around the whole front of the ponies, from chin to chest, and covered their sides. On their faces were helmets with only two slits for eyes. He knew that ammunition was limited - he would have to use his guns sparingly - and now mentally chastised himself for not grabbing a sword when he had the chance. As his combatants ran at him, he surveyed the surroundings, seeing what he could use to his advantage. The reinforcements had been met in a large field on the outskirts of the town; there was very little to use, unless the small home on his left would force the ponies into close quarters. But then again, they wielded swords, and neither of them were unicorns. Instead, when the soldiers were a matter of yards away from him, he drew his knife. As he held the knife in his hand, he saw that from the tip to the grip, the knife lit up a dark blue and pulsed. Better not be just for show, Twenty four thought as the soldiers swung their swords at him. Dodging the swings, he swung at one with his knife, and caught one of their blades with his own. As they stood in deadlock, he saw the pulsing blue edge of his blade slide through his opponent's, the stump of his sword swinging downward, the other half of the blade following in the same direction. As the pony stared at him with fear in his eyes, his comrade attacked Twenty four - who raised his blade just in time to block the weapon, and cut though it just as easily. As the ponies turned to run away, he leaped at the closest one, bringing his blade up to the pony’s armored throat. As the blade burned through his armor, the pony squirmed and tried to kick at him, but to no avail, for the suit’s increased strength allowed him to keep hold of him. After seconds of sparks flying, the blade finally pierced the soldier’s neck, and after a few more seconds he was dead. They certainly weren't kidding when they said ‘high-tech’, Twenty four thought as he watched the remaining pony get defeated by two friendlies. As he rose, Twenty four saw a large group of five ponies moving towards him, facing him in a horizontal line. Two unicorns were mixed up in the group, the rest were normal earth ponies. They must be targeting me specifically, now. Great. As they swung their swords at him, he jumped back, and raised his own weapon to counter, but found himself unable to do so, as he felt magic imprison his arms. The ponies raised their swords, but Twenty four was not frightened in the least; he knew that the suit would protect him. His only problem was how to get released from the magic, for he knew his suit wouldn’t protect him forever, or if the unicorns focused their magic on him directly. A few moments later, he heard the clang of their swords as they impacted with his armor. Suit damage: 2% appeared on his visor screen, and he supposed it meant out of one-hundred. Well, that gives me some- He stopped as the unicorns holding him in place fell over, dead. Behind their bodies stood two ponies in blue and silver armor, the same kind as the rebels. Twenty four noticed that they were the same ponies that he had seen kill the enemy that had fled. The magic restringing him gone, he jumped at the nearest soldier near him, attacking and swiftly killing him. His allies were also currently engaged in their own battles with the two remaining soldiers. Moving to assist, he cut the blade of one of the soldiers while the friendly finished him off. Turning to help the remaining ally, they saw that he had already ended his own opponent. “I wish I had a knife like yours,” one of them, a brown-haired, creme-colored, youthful-looking unicorn said, nodding at Twenty four’s weapon. “You’d have to travel through time quite a bit to get it,” Twenty four joked. “Heh, you’re an odd creature, for sure. But just how far?” the unicorn asked, looking as if he might actually attempt it. “The time for questions comes later,” came the deep voice of the other pony. He certainly looked older than his companion, along with wings, a grey coat and dark blue mane, he couldn't have looked more different, even though they were wearing armor of the same make. As he spoke, he pointed at yet another group of six enemies, making their way toward them. “Great. More of them,” Twenty four said. Then, turning to the ponies: “You two got names?” “Of course we do,” the gray pony answered. “My name’s Frost. As for the young one, you can call him Star.” Twenty four nodded. “You can call me Twenty four,” the ponies grunted in response. Turning to face the enemies, he asked, “so, how do you want to approach this?” “Simple,” Frost answered. “There’s six of ‘em. One unicorn. Star, think you can deal with him?” “Sure can, but you guys will have to deal with the rest and keep them away from me.” “Easy enough,” Twenty four said. The soldiers were only a few yards away when they started running full gallop at them. “Let’s go,” he said and, along with his allies, charged the enemy soldiers. Twenty four was the first one to collide with the soldiers, followed closely by Frost. Stopping as two earth ponies swung at him, he dodged the swings and struck out with his knife, cutting through the enemy's weapon, and followed by cutting through the soldiers armor at the neck, killing him. Frost had handled his opponent differently; he didn’t have the luxury of being able to cut through his enemy's armor and weapons, so he engaged in what Twenty four recognized to be extremely skilled swordsmanship. If Twenty four did not have a knife that caused all armor and swords to be worthless, and weapons that could kill anything with ease, he would have done anything to learn from such an apparent master. Even though Twenty four could tell that the fight was no challenge for him, he came up behind the enemy and stabbed him through his armor, Frost swiftly ending him afterwards. Together, they turned to engage the remaining three soldiers, who, as if finally realizing that using their numbers against him would work, attacked all at once. While Frost kept most of the enemies occupied, Twenty four - with the suit’s increased abilities - moved quickly and precisely, either disabling enemies for Frost to finish, or outright killing them when he saw the opportunity. And throughout all of the fighting, far to his left, he saw Star and an enemy unicorn engaged in what he supposed was a battle of magic. It was one of the most beautiful and strangest things Twenty four had ever seen. Their horns aglow, attacking with beams of energy and blocking with domes of magic; each trying to get the upper hand, as each tried to kill the other. Star’s face was contorted in one of concentration, with the same said for his opponent. It seemed they were at the same skill level, but Twenty four still sped up his fighting to assist his ally. After a few moments, he and Frost had killed all the enemies. When Twenty four looked, he did not like what he saw. Star looked to be losing - and that there wasn’t much time for him left, ethier. Twenty four knew that even if he ran at full speed he wouldn’t be able to save him. Frost nevertheless jumped into the air and flew as fast as he could to reach Star in time. Drawing his knife, he started sprinting after Frost, eventually catching up to him, and passing him soon after. Twenty four saw what he had to do. With him close behind Star and the enemy in front of him, he threw his knife. Though he knew he was a good shot, he was also excellent at throwing knifes - an old game he used to play whenever he got bored. Both Frost and Twenty four watched as the knife flipped through the air, over and over again, until the blade finally came to a stop - right between the unicorn’s eyes. The unicorn’s face had the same expression of surprise as Star’s when he opened his eyes to see that the enemy was suddenly dead. Looking to both sides, he turned around and spotted Frost and Twenty four making their way to him. When they finally reached him, Star asked, “what happened? One moment I’m fighting him, the next he has a knife sticking out of him, and you’re all the way over there. Did you throw it, Twenty four?” “Yeah, I saw that you were losing, so I thought I’d help out a little. “Hm, well, that’s quite the throw you made. Think you can teach me?” he asked, a pleading look in his eyes. “Well, if your magic’s not much different from using a super-suit, then sure,” Twenty four responded. Star looked like he was about ask a question, when Frost spoke up. “Star, you can ask him questions later. Look,” he said. It was only then that Twenty four had realized how far they had moved during the battle. They were currently on the same hill Twenty four had woken up on, and from that vantage point they were able to see the two armies march toward each other. Twenty four saw as the final push from the enemy. The remaining twenty of them stood in a square formation, moving toward the main body of the rebel army, about the same number of ponies, which Twilight and the other five of her friends were leading. “I suppose we join in?” Twenty four asked. “I suppose so,” Frost answered. “O.k, here’s the plan: we go and join up with the rest of the army, and take out whatever remains of the Queen’s forces.” “Good enough,” Star said. Twenty four agreed. “Then let’s go,” Frost said, and started running down the hill, Twenty four and Star following suit. They ran at the rebel army, and even going as fast as they were, it took a few minutes to reach their allies. By the time they mixed into the rebels the fighting had already started. During the course of the battle, Twenty four stayed close to the three ponies he had been with all day - he could tell because the sun had started to sink down to the horizon. They used the same strategy that they had used with the smaller groups of soldiers: Twenty four would disable the enemies, and Frost and Star would finish them. They ran into a few problems, however, when they encountered a fairly large group of unicorns, too many for Star and the other unicorns to handle. As Twenty four tried to find a gap in the enemy’s magic, he saw a bright flash of white, and the unicorns were turned to stone. And not only the unicorns - apparently most of the soldiers around them had been frozen as well. Well why didn’t they just do that earlier? Twenty four asked himself, and made a mental note to ask Twilight later. Twenty four and his two friends weaved their way through the statutes of enemies and came upon the remaining soldiers - who swiftly fled after seeing what had happened to their comrades. “That’s right, you better run!” Star yelled after them. Twenty four saw Frost shake his head, a grin on his face. “Come on, Star, no need to make a fool of yourself, we won!” Frost said to the unicorn, turning away from the fleeing soldiers. “We won already?” Twenty four questioned. It surprised him after so much fighting that it had ended so abruptly. “We sure did. But, I have to thank you for having our backs, Twenty four,” Frost said, facing him. “Ah, that was nothing! You should’ve seen some of the fights I got in back home…” Twenty four trailed off as the memories of jobs gone wrong jumped to his thoughts. They always ended up pretty crazy. “Hm, you might have to tell me some stories about where you came from,” Frost responded, as he and Star started walking back towards Ponyville. Twenty four joined them, the ground under his feet already shining gray now that the moon had risen over the horizon. They all were silent as they walked, contemplating after all the fighting. Twenty four realized that he hadn’t even fired a bullet during the whole battle. The thought made him laugh. Frost gave a an odd glance, “what’s so funny?” “Oh… Well I realized during that whole battle, I didn’t even have to use a single bullet!” Star looked at him, “Oh, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do!” he said, laughing himself. Laughing, all three of them continued across the plains, to the now lit town of Ponyville. The statues of all the enemies behind them. Twenty four could only guess how many more would soon be on their way, and how much longer he had left before he would have to kill yet again. He gripped his knife, and drew it out, the edge bloodied; he would have to clean it later. But inevitably, there would be more blood on it. That Twenty four was sure of. But he would make sure that it would taste Celestia’s blood. One way, or another.
R&REnd of Time The town - Ponyville, Twenty four remembered Twilight had named it - was bustling when their group of three entered the city limits. Even on the outskirts, the village had ponies: the wounded, and the medical staff who were tending to them; natural after a battle He walked through the rows of ponies, all darkened by the night.The moon was bright, however, and Twenty four could see some with missing hooves, some with painful-looking wounds, others missing entire limbs. Twenty four felt nothing as he looked at the soldiers, for he had seen enough combat to know that it was inevitable to not have wounded or dead after such a battle like this. Likewise, the ponies looked up at Twenty four with awe in their eyes, along with fear and, obviously, pain. They finally walked past the makeshift hospital, and as they entered the more populated parts of the town, Frost spoke. “I hear that there’s a hospital near here - a real one - but that the commanders still aren't entirely sure whether or not there are still enemies in there. ‘Till they are, those poor guys will have to make do with what they’ve got.” Twenty four nodded in understanding. “Well, if we can put aside the wounded for now, I’d like to-” he stopped as he saw a group of three soldiers making their way towards him. Hm, seems I have some visitors, he thought, and started to move forward to meet them. When the trio reached him, they each bowed slightly. The lead soldier, obviously one of a higher rank than the other two, spoke. “Greetings, Twenty four. Your presence is requested by commander Twilight Sparkle. We are here to lead you there.” Twenty four looked back at his friends. “You guys go on ahead, I’ll meet up with you later. This won’t take long,” he said, though he wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth. “Mh, it better not. We’ll be waiting for you,” Frost said in response. Then the two ponies moved past Twenty four, heading to what seemed to be a bar… or “tavern” if he was reading the sign correctly. Only then did he notice that their written language looked more like random glyphs than anything that resembled written English. Probably just a… cognate? Yeah, that’s it, Twenty four thought to himself as he followed the guards through the streets, to whatever destination they were leading him to When they finally reached their destination, Twenty four was not sure whether he was impressed or not. The location where he was supposed to meet Twilight was… A giant tree. Really? Twenty four thought as he walked alongside his escorts. Even if it was just a tree, it was hundreds of times thicker and taller than anything he had ever seen on Earth. It looked like it could have been a house, which it probably was, and surrounding it was a translucent, purple dome - magic. He was expecting himself to slam into the wall painfully, but he passed right through it, as did his guards. Not paying much attention to that, however, Twenty four continued to walk closer and closer to the red door of the tree. When he finally reached the entrance, the door glowed blue, and swung open. Standing in the interior of the tree was a guard, who gave him a salute. Returning the gesture loosely, Twenty four passed through the door, two of his escorts stopping short of the entrance and moving into positions on the outside of the tree. The higher-ranked soldier followed Twenty four into the tree, and led Twenty four quickly to a stairway that led down into a basement of some sort. Even with the short amount of time he had to inspect his surroundings, Twenty four saw bookshelf upon bookshelf. So, it’s some kind of library? Hm, never read much myself… he thought as he descended the stairs to the unknown location below. When he stepped off the final step, the same guard in front of him, he realized that it was in fact a basement. Bookshelves lined the walls here, too, and a large desk covered in paper stood in the center of the room. Amid the piles of sheets was Twilight, looking up at him, her face serious, even after a victory.“You may leave us now, General,” she said to the last of Twenty four’s escort. Bowing, he moved out of the room, and back up the stairs. Mh, a general, escorting me? Well, don’t I feel special, Twenty four thought as he walked up to her. “You wanted to see me, Commander? Twilight nodded.“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about your involvement in this war. You fought in the most recent battle, correct?” “Yes, I did, couldn't just sit on the sidelines, could I?” Twilight raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, but continued. “Yes, I heard descriptions of you fighting with some kind of…” she flipped through a few papers. “‘Magical knife’?” “Well, it wasn’t magic. Just technology. I’m not sure how it works, but when I hold the knife, it can cut through things - well, I only tried it out on armor, but I’m sure it can cut through other stuff too.” “Is there anyway we could study your technology to improve our forces?” “I… don’t think so. The technology in here is very advanced. Even I don't entirely how all it works myself,” Twenty four admitted. “I… see. Well, if you ever get the chance, will there be a way for us to at the very least inspect your armor and weaponry?” “Of course, when I get the chance, I can let you inspect it.” “I suppose you want to know additional information on the war?” Twilight asked. That was what Twenty four had wanted to know. “Yes, if you can spare anything.” “Very well, what is it you-” Twilight was interrupted as the voice of the general came from the top of the staircase. “Commander, the battle reports have come in.” “Very well, I will see to them immediately,” Twilight called back, her face suddenly looking weary and stressed. “I suppose I will have to answer your questions at a later date. I have to deal with the reports, however.” “I understand, Commander. Hope the papers won’t be too harsh?” Twenty four said, Twilight smiling slightly. “I’ll be on my way. Goodbye, Twilight.” “Farewell, Twenty four. But before you leave… you don’t think you could tell me your real name?” “Whenever I get around to it, I sure will,” he answered. Making his way up the steps, he exchanged salutes with the door guard, and made his way outside. Now, where is that bar… err tavern? Twenty four sat awkwardly - most likely because he was sitting on a seat built for a creature half his size and weight. Not even counting the weight of his suit, as he had only now realized how light it was - surprising when compared with the weight of gear back in his own time. The suit was not only lightweight, but also seemed out of place in his current location. Well, it would seem out of place everywhere, now that Twenty four thought about it, even in his own time. I’d wonder what people would think if I walked down Main street with this on. Twenty four chuckled to himself, imagining the expressions of pedestrians as he strut down what he remembered to be one of the busiest streets in New York. Ah, how I’ll miss that place… “So, Twenty - can I call you that? Maybe ‘Four’, for short?” Star asked, snapping Twenty four out of his daydream. “Hm? Oh, sure. It’s your call, Star,” Twenty four replied. “Well then, Four, how about you tell us how you got here? I only saw you talk with the commanders and suddenly you’re on our side,” Star said, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. “I’d like know as well,” Frost said. “I didn’t even see you until Star pointed you out; well, we saw how helpless”-he chuckled slightly- “ you looked, and, well; you know the rest.” “Yea, and in return, we can give you some details on this war, or anything about us, if you want,” Star added, sounding close to begging Twenty four for his story. Well, at least he shows enthusiasm, Twenty four remarked. “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll tell you how I got here,” he paused to clear his throat, then began. “Hm, well, I don’t know how I can make this make sense, so I’ll give it my best shot-” “How about you tell us what you are first?” Star realized he had interrupted him, and quickly added, “I mean… if you want.” “Fine,” Twenty four said, shooting Star a glance… well, if he didn’t have his suit covering his face, he would have shot him a glance that he would have seen. “I am a human. Homo sapien, though I’m probably pronouncing that wrong,” he chuckled. “My kind are…” he paused, unsure of what words he should choose. Should he try to make his kind look godlike in front of these creatures? Make his name feared throughout his enemies, but at the same time his friends? He decided no, he would describe them as he knew his kind were. “...Creative, adaptable, we can take any situation that’s against us and turn it in our favor, make it work for us… We invent machines to help us make life suitable to our needs, destroying what we see fit to make life better for others… and at the same time we can use our knowledge against one-another. Wars, terrible wars, started over the smallest of problems. We’d kill anything standing in our way, even if that means going through each other. We put boundaries and labels on everything we saw; people; land. It made us farther away from each other, even when we lived only a few miles apart. And when the time finally came for us to stand together…” Twenty four looked up. Both Star and Frost were staring at him, their eyes wide. “Wait… what happened? Some kind of... final war? Did your people kill each other off?” Star asked, next to him, Frost seemed to be wanting the answer to the same question. “No, what happened was… we were attacked by ponies. Your kind,” as Twenty four said this, a look of shock appeared on Star’s face, and he spoke. “What? But… does that mean… your people live in the…” “The Farlands,” Frost supplied. “Yes, interesting. Does that mean that your kind were the ones who had been killing all the exploration crews we had sent?” “I’m not sure, it could be, but since there are plenty of predators who could have killed them off too, I can’t be sure. But I can tell you what happened on that final war with your kind. Your kind were being led by Princess Celestia. My kind had first met with your leader when giant ships powered by coal landed off the shores of Africa - one of our continents.” “At first, we had no idea what you ponies were, so we sent diplomats, politicians, and military to the place where we had gotten reports of flashing lights and explosions - like a full-scale war was going on. I was there, and when our forces reached the area…” “What? What happened? What did C-” Star was cut off as Frost covered his mouth with a hoof. When he removed it, Star grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m just really curious about this… I mean, when I saw you just take down that soldier with one blow, and then seeing what you did with that knife, well you can’t blame me for being interested, now can you?” Twenty four sighed quietly. “No one said I was mad at you, Star, you’re just a bit… enthusiastic.” “Mh, I’ll second that,” Frost said. Star shot him an exasperated look. Frost was about to say something to the youth, when Twenty four interrupted. “Hey! Well, do you want to listen to me, or not?” “Yes, please continue, I want to know what happened!” Star said in a voice that sounded nearly pleading. “Okay… Well, when our forces made it to the village, we saw that the whole population had been vaporized - no bodies, no nothing. And standing in the middle of it - was Celestia. We tried to communicate, but nothing happened. Then, Celestia attacked.” “Soldiers came at us from all sides, we were only lucky that unicorns had not been able to figure out how our weaponry worked ‘till after the first few battles. We narrowly got away, but not without losing a fair number of people.” “Well, I can see Celestia doing something like that,” Frost said. “M-hm, well, anyway. There was a lot of fighting around the world in all of our other countries, the weakest falling first. It was chaos. Thousands of people left without homes, and hundreds of thousands dying… I was sent to do certain missions around the world, under the command of the G.A, the Global Army. Assassination, sabotage, you name it; I’ve done it.” “Well, what happened next?” Star asked. “How did you come to get here?” “As our countries fell and our armies were defeated, only a few remained. One of them was my country, but even then it was starting to lose ground by the day, until, finally, the ponies reached New York. It was the last safe place left in the country, and we were all but finished. Now, this is where I come in again. I had been called to New York for something, what, I did not know.” “We were at the very end when I was finally showed what I was supposed to do. My kind had been developing a secret weapon-” “-That suit! That’s the weapon, right?” Star blurted. “Yes… it was. Well, turns out that they had made it so this suit could handle traveling back in time… only problem was that we still didn’t know how to use time travel. So, we captured some unicorns, and, somehow, made them use magic on me to send me back in time… and I ended up here.” “That’s it?” Star said. “Well, what? It’s just a shortened version of it. I don’t want to bore you with all the facts. Besides, you have some stuff to tell me.” Twenty four said, gesturing in turn to the pair of ponies, then to himself. “Well, wait, wait,” Star started. “Can you tell what weapons you have? Other than that knife? Like what you hit that soldier out with when I first-” “All right. Ugh, how do you put up with this guy, Frost?” Twenty four asked the elder pony. “Ah, a question I ask myself every day,” Frost answered. “Just tell ‘em, and we’ll tell you what you want to know.” “All right, but I’m not describing them in detail, Star,” Twenty four looked at the pony. “Wooo, come on, then,” Star responded, an odd grin on his face. Twenty four reached down and pulled the pistol free from its holster. Holding it up for the two to see, he held it as if he was about to fire it. It was also the first time he had time to inspect his weaponry, and certainly the gun in his hands was state-of-the-art. The whole thing was a silver metal, with black rubber for the grip, looking similar to a regular gun. But that was were the similarities ended. Where the hammer would usually be, there was a small rectangular box, with a small screen set into it and small holes on the side. The gun was twice the width of a normal pistol, and seemed to be only fireable with two hands. He wasn’t sure what the screen was for, but he would find out when he had time. “This,” Twenty four gestured with the pistol, “is a ‘gun’. It launches pieces of metal using magnets at very high speeds, with different projectiles - bullets - doing different things. Some can explode, some can stun someone, but I don’t think that’s an option with this small gun.” Twenty four reached behind him to grab the rifle off of his back, but felt something pull at the pistol in his hands. He looked down to see that the weapon was glowing creme colored - magic, and that specifically of - “Star!” Twenty four shouted at the pony - who, in turn, fell off his chair and collapsed on the floor. The magic disappeared afterwards. “Star, are you really so impatient, or stupid… or both?” “Sorry?” Star tried, but he got no ground with Twenty four. Or Frost, who started speaking to the youth in a harsher tone than Twenty four had ever hear him use. “No.” Frost said, looking down at the pony. “Why would you do something like that? He didn’t even explain how it worked, and yet you still try and grab it with your magic? What if you set it off? You could've hurt somepony! I’m not your father to go around telling you what to do.” “Yes, you’re... not... father. You’ll never be” Star said, looking up at Frost with a pained and sorrowful expression. The two stared at each other for several moments until Frost grumbled in response, and lowered a hoof to help Star off the floor. Once he was back on his hooves, Frost spoke to Star. “Ahh... I’m sorry if… I didn’t mean anything by it. You know that. I just don’t want to see you make some stupid mistake, we’ve been through too much together.” Star looked straight at Frost as he replied. “I know, I know…” Twenty four coughed, getting the two’s attention. “Now, if we’re done with the arguments, how about my questions, huh? Firstly: Who are you guys? I’ve told you a bit about myself, now it’s you gotta return the favor.” “All right,” Frost turned to face Twenty four. “Well, not much to say about us, really. We both used to live in Manehatten, which was a closely guarded city back then. I used to be a weather pony there and Star lived with his parents, we were neighbors… That was until the Rebellion came and liberated the city. Lots of dead ponies… among them were Star’s parents. I found him, saved him from some guards, and I suppose I adopted him, becoming a stepfather of sorts. Teaching him how to fight, how to survive in a battle, the basics,” as Frost spoke, Twenty four made a mental note to ask him more about his past, he seemed to have a very special set of skills for just a weather pony… whatever that was. “Hm, I see, so how about these ‘Elements of Harmony’? Anything on those things?” Twenty four asked, hoping to find an answer. Those pieces of jewelry that could turn dozens of soldiers into statues had certainly piqued his curiosity. “Well, as far as we know,” Star answered, “they’re magical objects that only the Bearers of Harmony can use. Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Each representing their own element: honesty, magic, loyalty, laughter, generosity, and kindness,” Star finished with a wide smile, obviously proud that he could be teaching Twenty four something. Frost and Star continued informing Twenty four on what the Elements were, as well as basics of ponies, things that he didn’t know. Apparently, pegasi could control the weather, but had not been able to ever since the battle. Eventually the time came when the trio was asked to leave, and they complied. Rain had started up, making the already-dark night even harder to see in. “I guess you can come find a place with us for the night, Four,” Star said to him as they walked through the streets. “Really? I mean, if you don’t mind-” “-Oh, enough of that!” Frost interrupted. “You’re a friend and friends help each other out. I assume Commander Twilight must have been too busy to get you accommodations, and the camp is too far away from here, so you’re comin with us.” They continued to stumble through the streets, until, finally, they reached a house they could use for the night. It was a big house; each of them had their own room, which was fine with Twenty four. And now the only problem is taking this thing off… Twenty four decided to start with something simple. “Open,” he said. A series of beeping followed. Voice authorization confirmed. Release? “Yes,”The suit began to shudder, and the back of the suit gave way, with Twenty four spilling out onto the floor, the suit remaining upright. “Wow…” Twenty four heard Star’s voice, but his eyes hadn’t adjusted from the constant red tint for him to open them. “You’re a really weird looking thing, aren't you?” “Shut it, Star,” Twenty four replied. “Can’t say your kind were too pretty looking when we first saw them.” “Hm, up and out I see,” Twenty four opened his eyes to reveal Frost and Star both standing by the door, looking down at him. “No, for once, Star has a point: you are pretty funny-lookin,” he heard a chuckle from Star, and he groaned. “Enough of that, I have a very important question to ask you,” Twenty four said as he stood up from the floor. “And that is…?” Frost retorted. “Where is the bathroom in this place?”
TransitionEnd of Time ________________________________________________________________________________ Agent Twenty four watched New York from the window of one of the last standing human landmarks - the Empire State Building. He watched as small spots of gunfire flashed across the once-grand city, lighting up the twilight. Suddenly, off in the distance, he saw a flash of golden magic, followed by a larger explosion - one that could have only come from a explosive of some kind. He pitied the fact the humanity had lost. Certainly, he had done his part for the war. Recon, assassination, sabotage; the basics. He knew that he had killed many ponies - and before that he had specialized in killing people, and had been one of the very best. He was glad that he had been able help in the effort, but it had come to this. He knew what he had to do. He had been brought here for that very purpose. He turned and walked to the elevator, and waited. The doors opened and a unimpressive man stepped out. Short, a small patch of gray hair on his otherwise bald head, and wearing a suit that, seemed completely unnecessary at the end of humanity, was the last president of the United Sates. "Hello, Agent Twenty four," the President called him by his number simply because there was no need for names in this type of business; no one would have wanted to be associated with death. "Hello, Mr. President," Twenty four said, no emotion in his voice. Emotion was something that Twenty four liked to avoid when speaking with employers - even if he was one as important as the President. "We have lost," the President said simply, and gestured toward the open elevator . "You know what we have to do, Twenty four," he said as they both stepped into the elevator. "Yes, I know," Twenty four responded. They started moving downward, past the first floor, and beyond. The Agent knew that the generators underground would be producing power, and that nothing could cut off it's supply. But nevertheless, time was of the essence, as it would only be a matter of time before the ponies reached the building. The doors finally opened to reveal a large, somewhat rectangular room. The walls were unfinished - and most likely would never be - and were the gray color of stone lit only by lights that hung from the ceiling. The wall facing them a small, square metal plate, made of two halves. The floor was mostly taken up by computers and large wires that ran to center of the room, and connected to a small, raised metallic disk. On that disk stood a large black suit made of some kind of metal, wires running from the neck and along the back to the head. In its hand was a extremely advanced-looking sniper rifle. This was the reason that he was here. This was the reason that they were all here. A man in a generic white lab coat, spectacles, and unremarkable face walked up to them. His badge read, Lester Henforth, Lead technician "Hello Mr. President... Hello Agent Twenty four." They each said their greetings in return, and the head scientist lead them to the suit. "This is it?" The President asked, appearing unimpressed. "It may not look like much, but it's the most advanced thing humanity has ever built. This suit has been in development for the past ten years, Mr. President, as you well know, right before the war started." "What does it do?" Twenty four asked. "Many... many things. But I can explain after you're in it, sir," He paused and turned to a monitor on a far side of the room. "There is not much time left." Agent Twenty four stepped up to the platform, behind the suit. He waited as Lester pressed a few buttons, and the entire back of the suit, from the feet and legs to the back of the head opened up. "Now, you're not going in there dress like that, Agent Twenty four," Lester said, walking to him. "You can't be wearing that when... well you'll see for yourself." The scientist handed him a large, one-piece article of clothing, some kind of thin, heavy fabric. The Agent stripped off his clothes and donned the strange clothing quickly, for they had wasted too much time already. He stepped into the suit and he felt as the back of it closed around him, encasing him in metal. Light came extremely faintly through the dark view screen. his vision turned from darkness, to a red-tinted vision screen and a Heads-Up-Display. "Brace yourself, Agent, this will hurt," Lester's voice came through extremely faintly. A few moments later, Twenty four felt small pricks on various parts of his body, and a terrible shock afterwards. A few moments later, a faint humming started, and the suit came to life. "There. It should be online. Twenty four, can you hear me? Please respond if you can." Agent Twenty four did as asked. "Good. Sorry for the shock, that was for the suit to be able to match your movements easier. This is our kind's final invention. A super-suit, if you wish to put such a bland title on it. This suit increases your strength, vision, it even grants you the power to be invisible for a short time. The gun you are holding uses magnetism to fire the bullets, which include; incendiary, explosive, or a bullet that sends out a large amount of electricity that knocks a target unconscious, and all of them are fired completely silently. There is also a similar handgun magnetized into the holster on your right side. The whole suit is powered by solar panels installed in the shoulders and head, and has a small battery to release you in case of power failure." "And how is this supposed to stop that war? Everything's already gone to far to rebuild even if we do win," Twenty four asked the technician. "Well... this suit, with you in it-" "We are going to send you back in time, Twenty four, to kill Princess Celestia," The President said, as if he was simply stating the weather. "And just how do you expect to do that?" Twenty four asked. "Unless you're telling me that this suit has time travel built in?" "No," Lester answered. "Twenty four, the answer is, ironically, magic." As soon as the sentence left his mouth, the two metal plates on the far side of the wall slid open to reveal a glass plate, and behind it, were two unicorn ponies - small wires strapped onto their horns, and larger ones strapped onto their bodies. "You see, Twenty four, while we can't use magic ourselves, we can get others to do it for us," Lester said, gesturing to the two ponies. "Due to our research on the basics of time travel, we can be certain that this suit can withstand one travel through time," Lester explained. The President spoke up then, "Twenty four, you know that there is no going back from this once it has started. You will succeed in your mission, or humanity is doomed." "And just how is it that you know that if I do kill Celestia, that it won't destroy time, or some other shit like that?" "We can not," the President answered. "We have the location of where the ponies came from, and our... guests will provide you the means of transportation." A quiet beeping started then. "Sir! It is time we send him off!" Lester seemed worried. An explosion rang from above, the lights shook, and small pebbles rained down. "Agreed. Twenty four, you are our best and last agent. This is the most important mission anyone has undertaken. For all of humanity, you must succeed. Farewell." Twenty four looked up to the two unicorns -no sound came, but they appeared to be screaming - their horns glowed, and the wires attached to their horns glowed the same color. The large wires that connected to the disk Twenty four was on began to glow the same color as the magic of the ponies. He felt as the suit began to vibrate and a strange, low hum began to resound inside of his head. Then a flash of white consumed him, and Agent Twenty four was no more.
